CiG
Room with a View
I don't know that anybody would call blackface cultural appropriation. Having a black face isn't the same as having a culture that has ingredient preferences or fashion styles.
Cultural appropriation is sometimes so blatant it smacks us in the face. The Black and White Minstrel Show ran on British television for – what seems now to us, looking back at it – and astonishing 20 years, from 1958.
Even halfway through its run the show, in which white entertainers “blacked up” to sing songs in a Deep South of America style, was the subject of petitions calling for it to be taken off the air because of its in-your-face racism. It can hardly be seen now without an overwhelming feeling of embarrassment. How did we ever think that was acceptable?
The show was harking back to the minstrel shows in 19th-century America, and blackface was a popular form of entertainment until the enlightenment of the 1960s, coupled with rising racial tensions across the US, finally put paid to it.
You don't have Western..... culture without black culture.
I'm merely calling into question whether cultural appropriation can be nationalistic if it's not appropriating something that falls along national boundaries.
I'm comparing it to Classical Marxism and internationalism, which as far as I'm aware has always been opposed to rigid social-sectarianism which seems to be the dominant mentality now. By free movement I don't mean the actual EU policy itself but rather the spirit behind such a notion, that people shouldn't be trapped in their culture nor rejected from another's.
More egregious forms of what you and others call cultural appropriation (black, red, yellow and brown face for example) are not things I would defend even if I don't agree that those are examples of the concept but rather just low-brow forms of racist entertainment, but a white woman at a prom wearing a culturally Asian prom dress should be an utterly uncontroversial act and an attempt to put a stop to such a practice is IMO a fundamentally nationalistic act.
Finally, and from a more theoretical angle, while we see white people in America dressing up in various Latino or Asian costumes, we don't see Latinos or black people dressing up in "white American" costumes.
And, if I recall, people in China actually weren't upset.
I don't really think it's a matter of integrating into a foreign culture, that kind of thing takes a lifetime. But I don't see why it's a problem to incorporate small elements of a foreign culture into your life in some way.
Cowboys? Vikings? Also, I don't think I've ever seen someone complain about cultural appropriation when it's a non-white person appropriating a different non-white culture. It seems blatantly one-way.
Most of the time the people in the country the appropriation is apparently happening to don't care, it would seem. At least, especially in the Asian examples.
White people don't care about it because they don't have to.
Funnily enough I was going to say the opposite. Apparently only white people have enough privilege to allow getting mad about Halloween costumes rather than real issues. We're looking at peak First World Problems.
I think that confuses “getting mad” with acknowledging an issue. I’m not mad about cultural appropriation, but I think it’s worth pointing out. I am privileged enough to have time to address the issue, so I can put my privilege to good use. Lastly, the idea of cultural appropriation didn’t originate with white people, but among (I believe) postcolonial theorists, many of whom are people of color. But I could be wrong.
But for what purpose and in what way, I guess is my main concern.
Speaking of systems of control, Asia is pretty high on that list. China, Japan, Singapore--they got that shit nailed down.
Ah, good points--cowboys at least, for sure. But I kind of feel like mostly white people dress up as cowboys... no? And furthermore, there were real black and Latino cowboys (maybe not Asian cowboys, but I'm not really sure).
You're right that it only goes one way, but this is where my progressive indoctrination comes into play and I have to point out that the modern image of the cowboy is part of the commodification system that produced all other cultural costumes. It goes one way because of that dynamics. White people don't care about it because they don't have to.
That's my take anyway.